U.S. v. Huggans

• Citation: 650 F.3d 1210
• Decision Date: 18 August 2011
• Docket Number: 10–3384.,Nos. 09–3441,s. 09–3441
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.Darwin Markeith HUGGANS, also known as Mark Huggans, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

650 F.3d 1210

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Darwin Markeith HUGGANS, also known as Mark Huggans, Defendant–Appellant.

Nos. 09–3441

10–3384.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: June 15, 2011.Filed: Aug. 18, 2011.

Michael Gross, argued, St. Louis, MO, for Appellant.Dean R. Hoag, AUSA, argued, Sirena Miller Wissler, AUSA, on the brief, St. Louis, MO, for Appellee.Before BYE and MELLOY, Circuit Judges, and ERICKSEN,¹ District Judge.MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Following a bench trial, Darwin Markeith Huggans (“Huggans”) was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). He was sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II) and 851. He appeals both his convictions and his sentence, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and arguing that the district court ² erred in: denying his pre-trial motions seeking dismissal of the indictment, a bill of particulars, and severance of the counts; denying his post-trial motion for a new trial; and failing to toll the limitations period for challenging the validity of prior convictions under 21 U.S.C. § 851. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I.

On September 13, 2007, a federal grand jury charged Huggans with attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. On December 20, 2007, Huggans was charged in a two-count superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine (“conspiracy count”) and one count of attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine (“attempt count”), both in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. The superseding indictment read:

Count I

The Grand Jury charges that: Beginning in 2000 and continuing up to the date of this Indictment, in the Eastern District of Missouri and elsewhere, DARWIN MARKEITH HUGGANS, a/k/a/ Mark Huggans, the defendant herein, did knowingly and intentionally conspire, combine, confederate and agree with other persons known and unknown to this Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United States, to wit: to knowingly and intentionally distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1).

All in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1); and

The quantity of cocaine involved in the offense was in excess of five (5) kilograms, thereby making the offense punishable under Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II).

Count II

The Grand Jury further charges that: Beginning in March 2007 and continuing until April 12, 2007, in the Eastern District of Missouri, DARWIN MARKEITH HUGGANS, a/k/a/ Mark Huggans, the defendant herein, did knowingly and intentionally attempt to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, a Schedule II narcotic controlled substance and took a substantial step in furtherance thereof.

In violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(a)(1);

And the quantity of cocaine involved in the offense was more than five (5) kilograms making the offense punishable under Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II).

Huggans filed pre-trial motions seeking dismissal of the indictment, a bill of particulars, and severance of the charged offenses. When these motions were denied, he waived his right to a jury trial. Prior to the commencement of the bench trial, the government filed an information seeking a sentencing enhancement pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851 based on Huggans's prior Missouri felony drug convictions for second-degree trafficking in 1990 and for possession of cocaine in 1995.

The evidence at trial, briefly summarized in a light supporting the verdict, showed the following. See United States v. Kain, 589 F.3d 945, 948 (8th Cir.2009) (recognizing that “[w]e review the sufficiency of the evidence after a bench trial in the light most favorable to the verdict”). This case arose out of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) into a drug-distribution conspiracy headed by Luis Sais from a jail in Mexico City, where he was imprisoned. Beginning in 2001, Curtis Rice began shipping stolen cars to Sais's associates in Mexico in exchange for marijuana. In 2005, Rice began transporting cocaine, which was supplied by Sais's associates, from Mexico by boat into Texas and then in four-by-four trucks to cities across the United States, including St. Louis, Missouri. Beginning in December of 2005, Rice began supplying Sais's cocaine to Anthony Stiles in St. Louis.

Stiles had been dealing drugs with Huggans since 2001, receiving increasing quantities of cocaine from Huggans until Huggans lost his cocaine connection in 2005. After Stiles obtained the Sais connection, Huggans began buying cocaine from Stiles. According to Stiles's estimate, Stiles delivered approximately 600 kilograms of cocaine to Huggans over a six to nine month period.

By March of 2007, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) had caught up with Rice and Stiles, and they agreed to cooperate. Stiles named Huggans as his primary customer, and DEA agents developed a plan to conduct a narcotics transaction between Rice, Stiles, and Huggans. In conversations recorded by DEA agents, Stiles let Huggans know that Rice had cocaine for sale at $17,000 per kilogram. On April 10, 2007, Rice and Huggans met to discuss Huggans's purchase of twenty kilograms of cocaine. Subsequently, they agreed to meet for the exchange on April 12, 2007. On that day, Huggans met Rice, bringing a backpack full of money. Rice and Huggans traveled in Rice's car to a hotel. They planned to count the money in the hotel, whereupon Rice would call his “guy” to deliver the cocaine. The hotel room in which the meeting occurred was equipped with both audio and video recording devices, which captured the money count. Huggans asked Rice to call his “guy.” Instead, Rice called nearby DEA agents. Rice and Huggans left the hotel room with Rice carrying the money. DEA agents arrested Huggans outside the room and seized the money. A count revealed $329,320, which was $10,680 short of the agreed-upon price of $340,000 for the twenty kilograms of cocaine.

At the close of the government's evidence, Huggans moved for a judgment of acquittal, which was denied. On March 13, 2009, the district court found Huggans guilty on both counts. Prior to sentencing, Huggans moved for a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence, which the district court also denied. On October 7, 2009, the district court sentenced Huggans to life imprisonment pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A)(ii)(II) and 851.

II.

A. Motion to dismiss the indictment

Huggans first argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment. He contends that the indictment was insufficient to provide him with adequate notice as to the nature of the charges against him and insufficient to enable him to plead his prior conviction as a bar to prosecution if charged again. “We review denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment de novo.” United States v. Brewer, 628 F.3d 975, 977 (8th Cir.2010) (emphasis added). “An indictment is sufficient if it contains all of the essential elements of the offense charged, fairly informs the defendant of the charges against which he must defend, and alleges sufficient information to allow a defendant to plead a conviction or acquittal as a bar to a subsequent prosecution.” United States v. Summers, 137 F.3d 597, 601 (8th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted). “An indictment will ordinarily be held sufficient unless it is so defective that it cannot be said, by any reasonable construction, to charge the offense for which the defendant was convicted.” United States v. Hayes, 574 F.3d 460, 472 (8th Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Huggans contends that the indictment was insufficient as to the conspiracy count because it failed to specify the persons with whom, and the locations and times at which, he conspired to possess and distribute cocaine during the seven-year period between 2000 and 2007. Huggans relies on United States v. Helmel, 769 F.2d 1306 (8th Cir.1985), in which we recognized that “[i]t is generally sufficient that an indictment set forth the offense in the words of the statute itself as long as the elements of the offense are delineated and the general statement is accompanied by the specific facts constituting the offense.” Id. at 1322 (citing Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117–18, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974)) (internal quotation marks omitted). However, as we have explained in subsequent cases, an indictment provides sufficient “specific facts constituting the offense” if it apprises the defendant of the time frame of the alleged drug conspiracy and the type of drugs involved. United States v. Peterson, 867 F.2d 1110, 1114 (8th Cir.1989), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Richardson, 439 F.3d 421 (8th Cir.2006); see also United States v. Olderbak, 961 F.2d 756, 760 (8th Cir.1992). Indeed, in Peterson, we found sufficient an indictment containing language nearly identical to that at issue here. ³ The indictment in this case limited the time frame of the alleged drug conspiracy to the period between the beginning of 2000 and December 20, 2007, and specified that the drug involved was cocaine. As in Peterson, “[i]n view of these limitations we cannot say that [Huggans] could have failed to realize exactly what conduct the trial concerned.” 867 F.2d at 1114. While the time period specified in the instant indictment is longer than the two-year time frame given in the indictment at issue in Peterson, this difference was driven by the particular facts of each case and does not alter our conclusion. Indeed, in Helmel, we approved an indictment that charged the defendant with...